The porcelain and wine city of Meissen

Thursday, 24 January 2013 - 01:08 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  4 minutes

Meissen seen from 'Juchhöh' in the nearby mountains 'Spaargebirge' © Olaf1541/cc-by-sa-3.0

Meissen seen from ‘Juchhöh’ in the nearby mountains ‘Spaargebirge’ © Olaf1541/cc-by-sa-3.0

Meissen is a town of approximately 30,000 about 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony. The Grosse Kreisstadt is the capital of the Meissen district.

Meissen is famous for the manufacture of porcelain, based on extensive local deposits of china clay (kaolin) and potter’s clay (potter’s earth). Meissen porcelain was the first high quality porcelain to be produced outside of the Orient.

The first European porcelain was manufactured in Meissen in 1710, when the Royal Porcelain Factory was opened in the Albrechtsburg. In 1861, it was moved to the Triebisch river valley of Meissen, where the porcelain factory can still be found today. Along with porcelain, other ceramics are also manufactured.

Town hall © Algoe/cc-by-sa-3.0 Porcelain Museum © Ingersoll City Theatre © SeptemberWoman/cc-by-sa-3.0 Castle Hill with Albrecht Castle and Dome © flickr.com - Leander Wattig/cc-by-2.0 Meissen Cathedral © Kolossos/cc-by-sa-2.5 Meissen seen from 'Juchhöh' in the nearby mountains 'Spaargebirge' © Olaf1541/cc-by-sa-3.0
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Meissen seen from 'Juchhöh' in the nearby mountains 'Spaargebirge' © Olaf1541/cc-by-sa-3.0
The Albrechtsburg, the former residence of the House of Wettin, is regarded as being the first castle to be used as a royal residence in the German-speaking world. Built between 1472 and 1525, it is a fine example of late Gothic style. It was redecorated in the 19th century with a range of murals depicting Saxon history. Today the castle is a museum. Nearby is the 13th-century Gothic Meissen Cathedral (Meißner Dom), whose chapel is one of the most famous burial places of the Wettin family. The hill on which the castle and the cathedral are built offers a view over the roofs of the old town.

Meissen’s historical district is located mostly around the market at the foot of the castle hill. It contains many buildings of Renaissance architecture. Also imposing is the view from the 57 metre high tower of the Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady), situated in the old market-place. This church, not to be confused with the Dresden Frauenkirche, was first mentioned in a 1205 deed issued by Bishop Dietrich II and after a blaze about 1450 rebuilt in the Late Gothic style of a hall church. Its tower hosts the world’s first porcelain carillon, manufactured in 1929 on the occasion of the town’s 1000-years-jubilee.

From spring to autumn, several festivals take place in Meissen, such as the pottery market or the Weinfest, which celebrates the wine harvest. Meissen wine is produced at the vineyards in the river valley (Elbtal) around the town, part of the Saxonian wine region, one of the northernmost in Europe.

Read more on City of Meissen, Meissen Tourism, District of Meissen, Albrechtsburg Castle, The House of MEISSEN and Wikipedia Meissen. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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